Artificially intelligent fulfillment system

ABSTRACT

A plurality of machines matching documents by natural language content over a publicly accessible electronic network. Advertising of demand and surplus profiles and matching same, utilizing expert matching with learning capability. Electronic notification of search results to profile owner. Electronic commerce for purchase of identity and contact information. Self-replication of expert knowledge and data electronically to other machines of the same class.

REFERENCES CITED

[0001] The following cited references to REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS and specifically referenced in this specification as “Ref.” followed by the sequence number:

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] The present application claims the priority of the following provisional applications, incorporated herein by reference:

[0003] Ref. 1: PPA Ser. No. 60/339,959 entitled “Internet based, virtual machine utilizing artificial intelligence to locate resources by geographic location”, filed Dec. 5, 2001.

[0004] Ref. 2: PPA Ser. No. 60/341,147 entitled “Artificially intelligent fulfillment system”, filed Dec. 14, 2001.

[0005] Ref. 3: PPA Ser. No. 60/355,743 entitled “Internal processing of artificially intelligent fulfillment system”, filed Feb. 5, 2002. PATENT DOCUMENTS US 6182050 B1 Jan., 2001 Ballard 5724521 Mar., 1998 Dedrick WO 01/09772 A1 Feb., 2001 Puram et al. 6049776 Apr., 2000 Donnelly et al. US 6324534 B1 Nov., 2001 Neal et al. 5832497 Nov., 1998 Taylor 5283731 Feb., 1994 Lalonde et al. 5197004 Mar., 1993 Sobotka et al. 5164897 Nov., 1992 Clark et al. WO 01/25897 A1 Apr., 2001 Dupree US 6266659 Jul., 2001 Nadkarni 5416694 May 1995 Parrish et al. US 6289340 B1 Sep., 2001 Puram et al. 5884270 Mar., 1999 Walker et al. US 2001/0042000 A1 Nov., 2001 Defoor

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

[0006] A complete list of the source code required to create the hierarchical database is contained in the CD-ROM provided, entitled “AIFS source code—May 12, 2002”. All assumptions are included as comments in the source code. The source code is written is in the PL/SQL and SQL*PLUS proprietary programming languages of Oracle Corporation, and Unix Korn shell script, and contains all necessary components to install and operate the alternate embodiment of the invention, as described below.

BACKGROUND

[0007] 1. Field of the Invention

[0008] The invention generally relates to the field of intelligent document storage and retrieval. More specifically the system, through a plurality of algorithms, selectively engages a plurality of expert systems, to retrieve and qualify electronic records (or profiles) describing surplus (or supply), containing known, and previously unknown, words or phrases (or patterns) in natural language, of relative significance or strength, in relation to the significant patterns in natural language, in records describing demand. The relative score between a supply and demand profile obtained by factoring a plurality of supply pattern to a plurality of demand pattern, with reference to a knowledge base (or expert system), is the basis for qualification and ranking.

[0009] Further, the system relates to the field of interactive advertising. A plurality of algorithms determines the availability of a supply or demand, on a personal match list for the owner of a particular supply or demand, for a particular knowledge base. Such match list, deliverable in electronic form, enables the owner of a profile, to interact with ranked supply or demand profiles: access to detailed descriptive information in a plurality of electronic media formats; update a plurality of indicators visible to owner of profile; transmission of an electronic message to the owner of the profile.

[0010] 2. Prior Art

[0011] Third-party services generally provide supply to meet demand on a per-item commission basis. Fees are generally paid by demander, in arrears and often subject to qualification, or engagement of that supply for a probationary period. Other services may be provided, such as background checks, and references. Pricing varies according to the need of the Demander.

[0012] Advertisement of a demand via newspaper or trade press also provides less than optimal performance, as it will not ensure that the supply accurately meets the demand. Suppliers tend to respond in terms of their need and not necessarily that of the demander. Fees are paid in advance by demander, irrespective of the results. Pricing is based on the physical restrictions of the publishing and distribution process, such as lineage or relative page size, often combined with an advertising credit system.

[0013] Other services currently available, such as online search databases, whilst easily accessible, are often taxonomical in operation, resulting in information loss as natural language is reduced to categories, keywords, or Boolean data. As a result they are difficult to operate with user performing the search having to second guess the particular taxonomy used by the originator of a profile. Prices are often based on the quantity of the return.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

[0014] The invention provides an excellent alternative, incorporating the above described traditional methods of fulfillment into one artificially intelligent solution. The system is programmed to record patterns in documents submitted in the context of a particular expert system, in a hierarchical database; to learn from interaction; to qualify and rank supply and demand; and deliver services electronically.

[0015] In the course of submitting a profile a plurality of electronic documents may be submitted in a plurality of written languages, superimposed by a plurality of coded formats. The system performs reduction of the document to a common format, as a pre-requisite of the expert system to be used. A plurality of patterns in such documents is given a plurality of relationships in the expert system by a plurality of expert operators. The expert operators define and record the relationships between newly encountered patterns and patterns in the expert system in use; and may modify existing relationships to accommodate; providing a learning capability tending to increase accuracy.

[0016] The creator of a demand or supply profile reviews a list of matched profiles. The supplier must be pre-qualified by the expert system, in order to be placed on a list of matching supply for a particular demand profile. This assures that the list of suppliers meets the minimum requirements of demander; the system provides qualified matching.

[0017] Suppliers may only respond to a demand profile on their match list, to indicate an interest in fulfilling the demand; the system provides qualified response.

[0018] The demander, after having reviewed matched profiles, including response of the matching supplier profile owner may receive supplier contact information for a fee; fees are paid for the results of the search for identity (or contact information) for a plurality of matching profiles, as required of the demander. The system introduces no bias, for or against the supplier, since they create their own profile for free, and cannot contact demanders.

SUMMARY

[0019] The invention provides intelligent matching of natural language; supply and demand documents employing a plurality of expert systems, incorporating a learning capability tending to increase the efficiency of the matching process over time.

DRAWINGS

[0020] Ref. 1—Drawings

[0021] Drawing 1: Illustration of the various inputs and outputs to and from the invention in the normal course of events for the alternative embodiment of the invention.

[0022] Ref. 2 Drawings:

[0023] Drawing 1: The creation of a new supply or demand profile and extraction of natural language.

[0024] Drawing 2: The removal of identity information.

[0025] Drawing 3: Expert operator processes new patterns and updates expert system hierarchical database.

[0026] Drawing 4: Indexing of the profile.

[0027] Drawing 5: Scoring of a supply profile to a demand profile.

[0028] Drawing 6: Electronic message notification of new matches.

[0029] Drawing 7: Dynamic match page generation.

[0030] Drawing 8: Downloading of matched profile.

[0031] Drawing 9: E-commerce in exchange for supplier identity.

[0032] Drawing 10: Deactivation of a profile by reply to electronic notification, or user input.

[0033] Drawing 11: Replication of the data and expert system to other virtual machines of the same nature.

[0034] Ref. 3 Drawings:

[0035] Drawing 1: Illustrates the Group and Equivalence relationships, and Keys (or patterns) that comprise the expert system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] 1. Preferred Embodiment

[0037] 1.1. Description

[0038] Ref: 2 Describes the Foundation of the Preferred Embodiment.

[0039] The preferred embodiment of this invention employs: a plurality of database (supply and demand) with a corresponding expert system, in tandem, to provide a plurality of intelligent searches capabilities; independence from electronic document format; independence from natural language, to the extent that semantics may be preserved during translation.

[0040] The system is computerized, comprising a CPU and a hierarchical database wherein is stored the document repository, supply and demand profiles, indexing, matching and transactional data, and a plurality of expert system data.

[0041] The architecture of the computer system can be described in terms of the components:

[0042] Firewall—a device for securing an internal network from external access, except as required for operation of the invention, as configured by a person skilled in Network Administration. The purpose of the firewall is to permit communication with users on an electronic network.

[0043] Web server—a device for delivering electronic forms, static and dynamic web pages, and performing procedure calls to the application server, as configured by a person skilled in Web Administration. The purpose of the web server is to respond to requests by users over an electronic network.

[0044] Application server—a device for performing the programmatic algorithms of the application, controlling access to data, accessing the hierarchical database on the database server, as configured by an Applications Administrator. The purpose of the application server is to perform programmatic algorithms in response to: user input via the Web Server; a periodic schedule for autonomous background processes.

[0045] Database server—a device for storing and retrieving hierarchical data, as configured by a Database administrator. The database server is a repository for the supply and demand data, including any references to external data, indexing data, matching data, and the patterns and relationships comprising the expert system.

[0046] Mail server (or MTA)—a device for relaying electronic messages, configured by a Systems Administrator. The mail server relays electronic messages and acts as an interface to the application by responding with programmatic algorithms for some incoming addresses.

[0047] 1.2 Operation

[0048] Users submit a profile via electronic form, which consists of a number of free form text fields and a mechanism for uploading a plurality of documents electronically. In return they receive a login and password via electronic message. An electronic record of the match list for their demand or supply profile is created in the hierarchical database. The electronic form comprising a representation of that match list (or match page), is dynamically updated with status information. An electronic message is sent to the user periodically via email, containing a hypertext link to the match list. The profile owner for the match list must provide a valid user name and password to view and interact with the match list.

[0049] A dynamic match page displays the list, with reference to the current matches recorded in the hierarchical database, including a plurality of devices for navigating and otherwise interacting with the list, user may:

[0050] view and download profile information;

[0051] request profiles via electronic messaging;

[0052] provide feedback on interest in a match;

[0053] additionally, demander may:

[0054] purchase supplier identity;

[0055] send a request for feedback to supplier.

[0056] A user creating a supply sees a current list of demand (matched and ranked by the system), and vice versa. Demanders may contact suppliers by purchasing their identity (contact information), via electronic commerce, and downloading electronically.

[0057] A number of autonomous background processes provide necessary supporting functions:

[0058] Write Email—periodically, transfer email messages from the hierarchical database to the file system for subsequent processing by the “Mail Agent” as described below; record in the hierarchical database.

[0059] Mail Agent—periodically, read email messages from file system and send to the Mail Server (as described in 1.1 above), for delivery.

[0060] Key New Demand—periodically, read newly approved demand profiles and index with reference to the expert system; record in the hierarchical database.

[0061] Key New Supply—periodically, read newly approved supply profiles and index with reference to the expert system; record in the hierarchical database.

[0062] Match New—periodically, read newly indexed demand profiles and iteratively match new supply profiles, according to the recorded indices; record in the hierarchical database.

[0063] Feedback—periodically, read request by users (demand and supply profile owners) for delivery of selected matching profile. Create an email record in the hierarchical database to be serviced by the “Write Mail” process, described above.

[0064] Notify Daily—daily, notify profile owners with new matches recorded in the hierarchical database. Create an email record in the hierarchical database to be serviced by the “Write Mail” process, described above.

[0065] Notify ASAP—periodically, notify profile owners with new matches recorded in the hierarchical database. Create an email record in the hierarchical database to be serviced by the “Write Mail” process, described above.

[0066] A number of supporting functions are available to a user (the creator of a demand or supply profile), via a menu system, implemented in the electronic interface of the application server, to support electronic commerce, provide account history, and auditing, profile options, settings and preferences, including customizing of the matching process on a system, user and profile level. It is anticipated that the user functions will evolve, to accommodate ancillary functions.

[0067] A number of supporting functions are available to the administrator including: the approval or denial of submitted profiles; a plurality of statistical functions pertaining to financial and other activities; updates and corrections to the expert system patterns and relationships; modification of system level parameters; periodic requests for re-indexing of profiles; updates to Frequently Asked Questions database; updates to electronic mail templates. It is anticipated accommodate further ancillary functions.

[0068] A menu is available to an expert operator including: listing of the expert system relationships; visual identification of new patterns in a new document where recognized patterns are highlighted; update of the expert system patterns and relationships. It is anticipated that the expert operator menu will evolve, to accommodate ancillary functions.

[0069] The effect of preferences on the operation of the system is described in Ref. 3 (section “OPERATION OF THE INVENTION”, para. 1-5.).

[0070] 2. Alternate Embodiment

[0071] 2.1 Description

[0072] Ref. 1 Describes the Foundation of the Alternative Embodiment of this Invention.

[0073] The alternate embodiment is the application of the invention to recruiting or head-hunting for Information Technology personnel, where the patterns are skills in word or phrase form. The expert system uses American English words or phrases (or patterns) and reduces source documents to decoded American English (ASCII) text, for indexing and matching. The accompanying CD-ROM contains the source code for construction of the database; seeding of data; stored procedures, functions and scripts for operation.

[0074] 2.2 Operation

[0075] In this embodiment the supply is Information Technology personnel, with skills representing the patterns. The demand is Information Technology jobs. Suppliers submit their candidate profile, containing geographic location, compensation requirements and descriptive document (a resume), electronically. Demanders submit a job profile in a similar manner and upload a descriptive document (a job description), electronically.

[0076] New patterns are identified by expert operators and added to the expert system (skill database) together with hierarchical relationships. This relative number of hops, measure in equivalence (zero hops) or group (one hop) between the source and destination skill in the expert system, along with the user, and system preferences, determine the relative strength of the match, or score.

[0077] Ref. 1 (drawing 1) represents a visual depiction of this activity. In the drawing the virtual machine comprises all the components of 1.1 above.

[0078] As described here and in the alternate embodiment the invention analyzes data as submitted. That is, the data is wholly contained within a hierarchical database, as data submitted via electronic medium to the invention, in the form of a supply or demand profile. However, this is not a necessary feature of the invention. All that is required is access to the source data for reading. Therefore, all functions, described herein may be performed on data that is externally accessible containing, at minimum, a natural language descriptive document. This would include external repository that may be parsed a plurality of times, such as a URL. 

What is claimed is: 1) A virtual machine (computer-based on-line system) having a plurality of fields, arranged in a hierarchical database, performing automated matching of supply and demand, comprising: a plurality of expert systems (or knowledge bases); a plurality of supply and demand document records; a plurality of natural language descriptions; data entry via electronic form; data retrieval via electronic form for query and update; data retrieval via electronic message. 2) The machine is an expert system, assigning words or phrases, a priori: Concurrently, performs automated associative processes to assign word, phrase or pattern, to the electronic record for a document, using existing hierarchical relationships. 3) The machine, is a learning machine, tending to improve in accuracy over time: Concurrently, a number of expert human operators assign a plurality of previously encountered word, phrase or patterns, to a newly encountered word, phrase or pattern, thereby creating a plurality of new hierarchical relationships within the knowledge base. 4) The machine generates a notification electronically: Concurrently, notifies the originators of the matched documents, using the electronic means provided by the originators of such matched documents. 5) The machine allows purchase of contact information: Concurrently, performs electronic commerce to allow originator of a document to purchase contact information extracted from other matched documents. 6) The machine deactivates via electronic reply: Concurrently, deactivates documents electronically to prevent matching in response to an electronic reply to electronic notification of match, or by user input. 7) The machine is self-replicating: Concurrently, replicates data to multiple hierarchical databases. Machines of the same nature exchange information. Each machine electively receives and transmits documents and knowledge-based intelligence to other machines of the same nature connected electronically. 